Woodland and Trees

Exmoor’s woodland is exceptional. Deeply incised wooded valleys, wild ancient coastal woodlands, verdant temperate rainforest, designed landscapes of trees and woods, rare and veteran trees, old estate woodlands and, more recently, productive conifer plantations, all contribute to Exmoor’s rich natural beauty, cultural heritage and biodiversity. Trees and woods are important habitats, absorb and store carbon, slow the flow of water over the land, provide wood, timber and livelihoods, provide diverse places to explore, and improve health and well-being.
Around 14 per cent or 9,500 hectares of Exmoor is now woodland, with a further 4 per cent or 3,100 hectares of land under canopy of trees outside woods - in hedges, wood-pasture, historic parkland, orchards and gardens. An extensive network of rights of way and permissive paths means that much of this woodland resource can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
At the same time, our trees and woods are at greater risk than ever before. Diseases and pests are already having a dramatic and devastating impact. Combined with climate stresses and the immense damage extreme weather events are causing, our woods and trees are under serious threat.
We want to increase the positive management of existing woodland, and work with communities and our partners to explore opportunities to increase tree and woodland cover, in a way which enhances and respects the special qualities of the National Park.
We will explore innovative techniques to blend trees and farming on a more expansive scale, to blur the edges between woodland and open habitats, to relieve pressures preventing natural tree regeneration and connect and restore habitats, landscapes and people in new and exciting ways.
Temperate Rainforest is a habitat of global significance with rare woodlands rich in lichens, ferns and mosses, which needs a very special kind of climate strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocan and subject to high rainfall and a damp climate. It supports rich biodiversity and offers numerous benefits including carbon sequestration, natural flood management and climate moderation. Exmoor supports fragments of this special habitat and is highly suitable for the creation of new Temperate Rainforest mosaics.
Due to their longevity, ancient semi-natural and long-established woodlands are more species rich, and therefore need to be well protected and carefully managed. Over the centuries ancient woodland has become reduced in area, size and is increasingly fragmented. Creative and imaginative solutions are needed to re-connect and rebuild woodland networks, including buffering and extending existing woodlands, to help ensure the habitat and species they support is more resilient. Increasing the amount of woodland in positive management is also important, particularly in those smaller, steeper or isolated woods often overlooked in the past but with great potential. Traditional management practices such as coppicing creates temporary gaps which in some woods favours distinctive plants, in others the dense thicket regrowth supports nesting birds and dormice.  In addition, the warm and sheltered open spaces support specialist species such as the heath fritillary butterfly (the Woodman’s Follower), and migratory woodland specialist birds such as pied flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers. Careful restoration of planted ancient woodland sites will also help the survival and recovery of native plants, fungi and animals.

Woodlands have always been an important part of the Exmoor economy, providing coppice products, woodfuel, charcoal, timber, and cover for game birds. As a nation, we currently import more timber than any other country except China. This demand for imported timber from regions with little regulation or control helps drive environmental damage and social problems overseas. We want to see more of our own high- quality timber harvested in genuinely sustainable ways from Exmoor’s woodlands. Productive conifer plantations stand over large parts of the Eastern Hills and elsewhere. These yield significant volumes of timber, support jobs, sequester carbon and are habitat in their own right, home to goswawks, crossbills and other wildlife. Many are even-aged and dominated by few tree species, making management more efficient, but leaving them vulnerable to pest, disease and climate impacts. Stands displaying age, structural and species diversity are likely to be more robust and resilient and will help ensure we have a sustainable supply of home-grown timber in the future, taking pressure off fragile habitats elsewhere in the world.
We are now more aware of the important role that woodlands also play in helping to mitigate climate change through absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing flood risk through slowing the flow of water. Given the magnitude and rate of predicted climate change, trees and woodland will be significantly affected. Adaptation is therefore an important issue and should be addressed at the earliest opportunity. Changes in climate create opportunities in terms of the species of tree that can be grown on Exmoor, and the management practices we employ such as continuous cover forestry, but also bring additional threats for our woodlands in terms of changes to landscape character, pests and diseases and potential risks to native wildlife. Simply replacing trees we have lost to pests, disease and climate stress is already a significant task. Recovery from ash dieback alone will take decades.
We also better understand how restoring even low-density canopy cover into some more open landscapes can have a significant beneficial impact in terms of natural flood management and providing habitat networks and connectivity for wildlife, for example supporting birds such as the whinchat which have seen a 60% decline nationally but are thriving on Exmoor. If predicted climate impacts are realised, we need to begin the adaptation process now and increase carefully designed and well considered tree cover across our landscapes. This does not mean covering moorland with trees, but there are opportunities for more scrub and scattered trees in the moorland combes, enhancing the existing hedgerows and boundary features to provide improved habitat connectivity, and creating a more diverse mosaic of habitats. Similarly, there could be increased in-field trees and wood pasture in farmland which will provide shelter, shade and fodder for livestock in a changing climate.  Under more extreme climate scenarios, increased tree cover may be a significant factor in how landscapes continue to function, but it will take decades for canopies and roots to develop for benefits to be fully realised.
Improving the positive management of existing trees, and increasing tree cover in all its forms, from new woodlands, smaller groups of trees, in-field trees, wood-pasture, parkland, hedges, trees in gardens, orchards, scrub and natural regeneration, as well as connecting existing tree cover, creating new woodlands and forming mosaics with other habitats and land-uses, will provide multiple benefits for people, nature, and the economy.